Cosplay — A Beginner’s Guide for Absolute Noobs

If you have ever put on your dad’s tie or your mom’s heels to play make-believe as a kid, then you’re hardly new to cosplay. Still, the rabbit hole is wonderfully deep and rewarding, so lets venture down it and see what we find.

What’s Cosplay?

Take “costume” and “roleplay,” smash them together, and you get cosplay (or コスプレ in Japanese). It’s all about dressing up as your favorite anime, manga, movie, comic book, or game character — the sources of inspiration are endless — and playing that character, even if only for a few hours.

Cons and Cosplay

Gaming and comic conventions are a great place for cosplay since they often feature cosplay contests and draw hordes of like-minded fans. J-List is a regular at Anime Expo and San Diego Comic-Con, while you’ll find me at Icon (South Africa, April 20th – 22nd). Local cons are popping up more and more often, so you’re bound to find something not too far away. You might even meet Mith Buster and YouTuber Adam Savage as he does his Adam Incognito floor walk. His TED talk (embedded below) gave me my “ah ha” moment, cosplay made sense to me.

As Cheap (Expensive) as You Like It

You can buy, rent, sew, or 3D print your costume, but you don’t need to break the bank. Starting out, it’s better to scrounge what you can at home and go with a simple costume. You can add to this with each outing, building up a more complex costume as you go. Making a costume is a lot of fun, and you can learn the skills you need by focusing on small, manageable projects. I built this Captain America shield using junk around the house, over a weekend.

Did I Mention Contests?

No? Personally, I think we’ve pushed the envelope on how involved we can get in our hobbies. These days, everybody and their dog has a YouTube channel, a blog, and a Patreon supporting their hobby, so it’s easy to forget that hobbies are what we do for fun in our free time. If you’re starting out, you shouldn’t be looking to enter contests unless they’re specifically for beginners. Enjoy cosplay for what it is. Meet other cosplayers. Learn. Enjoy. And leave the stress of competing for another time.

Your Friend in Japan’s Here to Help

Peter and the team do good work sourcing the best otaku merchandise from Japan, including cosplay goods. Our catalog might spark a few ideas, although, admittedly, our offering’s more appropriate for the bedroom than the convention floor. You could also check out our Gallery for inspiration… if you don’t get too distracted.

So Much Deeper

We’ve really just scratched the surface of what cosplay is. If you’re a veteran cosplayer, why not sound off with advice for new cosplayers in the comments below. Have any great resources for people new to the hobby? Let us know.